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Reply to: Is a portable solar-powered generator practical for powering my home? Posted May 24, 2024

To give an example: I have an EcoFlow Delta Pro, a Smart Generator, and a 400 W solar panel.  Last wet spring, before I had the solar panel, the power went out for 3 days.  With the 3,600 W inverter I was powering 2 sump pumps, a fridge, a chest freezer, the router, a TV, a laptop, and whatever odds-and-sods electronics I needed (including an electric kettle).  The 3,600 Wh of storage meant the 1,800 W generator was running for 2-3 hours every 6-12 hours to charge the battery.  I used less than 15 L (4 gal) of gasoline over the 3 days. The good news: my 30 L (8 gal) of jerrycans will last me a long time at that rate.  And should stretch even farther next time with the solar panel.  The downside: my whole setup was bloody expensive, although I do use it for a bunch of different things. What you need to do is figure out what you want to run, how much power (in watts) those items use, and a rough guess of long and often they run (the duty cycle); then size your backup system to match.  Or, buy what you can afford and figure out what you can run on it.  Fridges don’t use that much power (mine pulls 120 W about 10-15% of the time) but an electric on-demand water heater will use a lot of power.  When it’s wet out, one of my sump pumps runs about 20% of the time and pulls almost 1,000 W.  If you want your house lights on, you’ll need an electrician to put in a way to plug your generator into your electrical panel.  Headlamps and candles are a lot easier.

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Reply to: Is a portable solar-powered generator practical for powering my home? Posted May 24, 2024

To give an example: I have an EcoFlow Delta Pro, a Smart Generator, and a 400 W solar panel.  Last wet spring, before I had the solar panel, the power went out for 3 days.  With the 3,600 W inverter I was powering 2 sump pumps, a fridge, a chest freezer, the router, a TV, a laptop, and whatever odds-and-sods electronics I needed (including an electric kettle).  The 3,600 Wh of storage meant the 1,800 W generator was running for 2-3 hours every 6-12 hours to charge the battery.  I used less than 15 L (4 gal) of gasoline over the 3 days. The good news: my 30 L (8 gal) of jerrycans will last me a long time at that rate.  And should stretch even farther next time with the solar panel.  The downside: my whole setup was bloody expensive, although I do use it for a bunch of different things. What you need to do is figure out what you want to run, how much power (in watts) those items use, and a rough guess of long and often they run (the duty cycle); then size your backup system to match.  Or, buy what you can afford and figure out what you can run on it.  Fridges don’t use that much power (mine pulls 120 W about 10-15% of the time) but an electric on-demand water heater will use a lot of power.  When it’s wet out, one of my sump pumps runs about 20% of the time and pulls almost 1,000 W.  If you want your house lights on, you’ll need an electrician to put in a way to plug your generator into your electrical panel.  Headlamps and candles are a lot easier.